“Everybody is caught up in image, and looking a certain way, being rich. It’s pointless.”
A former star NFL player has told how he lived in his team’s stadium for two years so he could save more of his pay cheque. Chad ‘Ochocinco’ Johnson played as a wide receiver for 11 seasons in the NFL, making the Pro Bowl on six occasions and being selected All-Pro on four occasions. He also led the league for receiving yards in 2006.
Chad was widely regarded as one of the best receivers in the game when he was playing, but he was also equally well known for saving money.
Rather than blowing his wages on cars and gold chains, Chad spent his first two years living at the Bengals stadium, because he just “didn’t want to spend no money” as a rookie. He also bought fake jewellery and flew commercial class.
He told Shannon Sharpe’s ‘Club Shay Shay’ show earlier this month: “What’s the point? Why are you telling me to go rent a house, go buy a house, or go rent a condo when everything I need is right here in the facility?
“Showers, cafeteria, TV, couch, gaming system. What’s the point? I was so locked in. It wasn’t about having my own space. I was so locked in. It wasn’t about having my own space.”
Chad went on to say that keeping things real on the home front, helped set him up for a successful career. He spent 10 seasons with the Bengals before finishing his playing days with a short stint with the New England Patriots.
“I needed that one year lock in to catch the rhythm. In the second year I got that rhythm,” he said, adding that it was Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis who eventually persuaded him to get his own place.
Despite earning millions throughout his career, Chad says he was never drawn to the flashy life and never bought real jewellery during his career.
To this day, the 45-year-old says he doesn’t see the point in getting carried away with his fortune.
“There is nothing I can buy that’s bigger than my name alone,” he said, estimating that he saved over 80 per cent of his playing salary.
“Everybody is caught up in image, and looking a certain way, being rich. It’s pointless.”
